Luck
by XKeyokoX
Summary: Ino and Shikamru, what more does there need to be said? Okay so there's more than that, but you have to read to find out.
1. Begining

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

Ino's POV

**So ****lets**** get this strait. Ever since I was little, I was always the perfect student. I had the looks, wit, and athletic ability. The one thing I couldn't ever get: ****SasukeUchiha****. In fact, no girl could ever get him. Not even Sakura. Though, I bet if he didn't leave, they would have ended up together. After I got turn down by the ****Uchiha****, I thought I would never love again. That was ****untill**** I saw **_**him**_

Regular POV

Ino was sitting around, inside her family's flower shop, just gazing off into the distance. She was a very good-looking girl for her age of 16. She had long blonde hair and bright blue eyes against fair skin. She was trying to make out some sort of picture from the dull boring wallpaper when the door ranged open.

"Ino you here?" a voice called out.

Ino snap to attention, her heart beating a little faster.

"Um...Yeah, I'm back here Shikamaru"

Shikamaru walked back towards the desk where Ino was.

"Hey, what's up Shikamaru? Is there anything wrong?" Ino asked with a puzzled look on her face. They didn't train until the afternoon, and seeing that it was 10am and Shikamaru being a very lazy person, she was very surprised to see him.

"No nothing's wrong. Tusanda-sama wants to see us at noon with Choji. It looks like we have a mission to go on." Shikamaru said in a very bored tune.

"ALRIGHT!!!!!!!" Ino screamed as she jumped out of her chair and did an arm punch into the air. "We haven't been on a mission for ages."

"Its only been a few weeks." Shikamaru pointed out.

"So" Ino stated, her cherry mood falling away.

"So...aw this is too troublesome" Shikamaru started to turn away and walk towards the door.

"Wait!"

Shikamaru stopped by the door and turned to look at her.

_Alright Ino don't mess this up_

"Uhhh..."

"Yes Ino"

"Um...so, noon right?"

"Right" and with a short nod, Shikamaru walks out.

My first chapter of my first fan fic is done. Tell me what you think please.


	2. Nightmare

**Hey guys. Sorry for the first chapter, this one is much longer. Keep reviewing for what you like and what you don't like.**

**Thanks**

**XkeyokoX**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

"Hmmmmmmmm…should I part it this way or that?" Ino asked herself as she messed with her hair. "Why won't it stay in place? Ugh, I give up." Ino put her hair back up into its original pony tail style. She picked up her headband and tied it around her waist over her usual outfit. She then pulled on a pair of black gloves with the village symbol on the back of each in a dark purple matching her clothes. She glanced up at the clock.

11:59

"Oh crap! I'm late!" Ino yelled as she ran out the door.

It was 12:15 by the time Ino made it to the Hokage's place. Shikamaru was out front waiting for her.

"Hey Shikamaru sorry I'm late."

"That's fine. You ready?"

"Yeah, but where's Choji?"

"Sick."

"Oh…" Before Ino could say anything else, Shikamaru turned and started up the steps towards the Hokage's office.

Shikamaru knocked on the door as they got there.

"Come in."

As they open the door, they saw Tsunade working at her desk with a stack of papers. She didn't look to happy about it either.

"Your late." she stated in a monotone voice "And missing a member."

"It's my fau-" Ino started to say.

"Choji's sick. We hope that's not a problem." Shikamaru said, cutting off Ino.

"Hn. No, I don't think it will; as long as you don't run into any serious problems." Tsunade said, looking up at Shikamaru.

"We can handle it." Shikamaru replied.

"Right. In that case, here's your mission." Tsunade said as she put down her pen. "I need the two of you to go to the Land of Wind and retrieve a package from the Fifth Kazekage, Garra. Now don't think this mission will be easy, you will most likely run into some enemies," she said looking up at Shikamaru before he could protest with how troublesome this will be. "for sure on the way back. This package is very important. When you get it, you are not to open it and bring it back strait to me. Understand."

"Yes" They both replied.

"Good. You will leave by noon tomorrow. Dismiss."

Shikamaru and Ino left Tsunade's office. Once outside, Ino turned towards Shikamaru.

"Where do you want to meet?"

"11:45 at the front gate. That way we'll be right on time." Shikamaru smirked as he said this and in return Ino gave him a deadly glare.

"Fine, 11:45 at the front gate." Ino gave him one last look before she started to storm off. Shikamaru gave a long sigh and muttered something about troublesome women.

"Ino wait!" Shikamaru yelled after Ino and jogged up to catch up to her.

"What." Ino replied with a little more edge to her voice than she intended. She had spun around to face him.

"I'm sorry Ino. I didn't mean to upset you."

Ino's face soften a little bit as she looked away. "It's ok I'm not mad"

"Ok then, see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see ya" Ino replied with a wave of her hand.

"Bye" Shikamaru waved back and walked off in the other direction.

That night Ino had nightmare again for the third time this week. It was always the same…

_She was running through the streets, tying to get away from something. All she knew was to keep running. She made corner after corner, not knowing where she was going or where she needed to go. Someone was calling her name, but she didn't know whether to trust it. It felt familiar and yet strange all at the same time. And then she hit a dead end. She skidded to a halt. The wall was too high and slick for her to go over. She turned around to go back the way she came, but it was too late. He was standing at the opening of the ally. They stood like that for a moment, Ino __to__ shocked with fear to do anything. It started to rain. As it picked up, he started to walk towards her slowly. Her eyes widen in fear. He was getting closer. She started to walk backwards, but it didn't seem to make a difference. She was against the wall now, all __hope__ lost. He was just within a few feet of her and stopped. The rain was pouring steadily upon them. He pulled out a weapon from beneath his coat._

"_I'm sorry Ino" was all he said and with the flick of his hand, he threw the weapon towards her._

"NOO!!!!" Ino screamed as she woke up with a start. She was sweating all over and she had to concentrate on her breathing.

"So much for a good nights rest."

**TBC**


	3. Silent Streets

**Hey guys, how's it going? Thanks for the reviews. I'm trying to respond to them as fast as I can. Hope you like the Chapter!**

**XKeyokoX**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ****Naruto**

Recap:_ "I'm sorry Ino" was all he said and with the flick of his hand, he threw the weapon towards her._

"NOO!!!!" Ino screamed as she woke up with a start. She was sweating all over and she had to concentrate on her breathing.

"So much for a good nights rest."

End Recap

_I wonder what that was all about. It felt so real and yet… I'm alive._ Ino threw off her covers and headed towards her bathroom to do her usual morning routine. She tried to her recall her dream back to her as she was brushing her teeth. The more she tried to think about it the more she couldn't remember. All she could think about was that someone was going to kill her, but she couldn't tell who. _Maybe this means I shouldn't go on the mission. Tsunade-__sama__ did say we might run into trouble…no I can't quit the mission. What's the worst that can happen?_

_**You could die.**_

_True. Wait who said that?_

_**Me. I'm your most adored and loved conscience.**_

_I have a conscience?_

_**WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'YOU HAVE A CONSCIENCE'?!?!? OF COURSE YOU DO!!! You must have missed the whole adored and loved part.**_

_No, I just didn't know a conscience could have a mind of its own._

_**Well then don't consider me a conscience. Just call me your Inner Most Beautiful All Powerful You.**_

_Great just what I need, an ego-maniac inner.__ I really need to stop hanging out with Sakura. She's starting to rub off on me._

_**Maybe that's a good thing. You do need some work.**_

_"…"__ If you are just going to insult me all day, I'll just leave. __I __have better things that I could do__ right now then listen to you._

_**Okay, okay, I'll get to the point, I'll leave but I warn you; that dream has more meaning to it than you think.**_

_What's that supposed to mean?_

Silence

_Hey get back here! __Arg__ I can't believe I'm having an argument with my self! _

Ino finished up in the bathroom and changed into her usual outfit with the exception of her new fighting gloves. She also left her hair strait down. Since she couldn't sleep and was already packed for the mission, Ino decided to head off to her parents floral shop and take care of some chores that have been neglected. She left a note for her parents on the kitchen table, grabbed her bags, and headed out the door to the shop.

"Wow, the stars are really bright tonight." Ino murmured as she walked through the streets. It was around two in the morning and everything looked deserted. Ino expressed a very loud and animated sigh.

_Well, I guess that's what I get for living in a village full of ninja. _

Even though Ino wasn't really scared, she did picked up her pace to the shop. She knew it wasn't safe for her to be wandering around the streets this late. That's when she saw it. She turned around quick to see what it was, but nothing was there; just an empty street.

_Dammit__, what was that? I swore I thought I saw something move. Maybe it's just my mind playing tricks on me…Wait! There it is again._

Ino turned to her right, just in time to see the shadow disappear again.

_Okay Ino just calm down, it was probably just a cat. Yeah, just some dumb cat._

She started to back up slowly, fear keeping her from running away as fast as she could. Her whole body was shaking as she started to take another step back, her eyes darting from left to right.

_Calm down Ino. It's __nothing,__ you have to remember that it's __noth__-_

**Whoosh**

An unatrual wind blew past Ino. She froze where she stood, her eyes widened in fear. Something was behind her. She knew what was going to happen now and braced herself for it. She shut her eyes tight and tensed up her whole body as she waited… and waited. She dropped her tensed shoulders and reopened her eyes. Her fear was disappearing, replaced by confusion.

_Why hasn't it killed me yet?_

She took a deep death and turned around to face what she thought was to be her killer.

TBC


	4. Naruto!

**Wow, one day has past between writing this chapter and the last. ****Lol****, I couldn't wait any longer. This chapter is a lot longer than my other ones, but I don't think you'll mind too much. I also ****wont**** update again for some time because of finals. Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**XkeyokoX**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

Recap: She took a deep death and turned around to face what she thought was to be her killer.

"Hey Ino! What's up? You look like you've just seen a ghost or something."

"Naruto…WH-what the hell are you doing here!?!?!?!" Ino exclaimed as she stared at the kyuubi boy in disbelief. "

"Well, I was up eating my regular 2:15Am ramen, when I saw you walking and decided to say hi." He replied and took another big bite out of his ramen that he was holding.

"WHAT? YOU CALL SCARING ME HALF TO DEATH IS YOUR WAY OF SAYING HI?" Ino yelled at Naruto. A Killing aura was surrounding her and she brought her fist up ready to punch him in the face.

"Wait Ino!" Naruto yelled as he fell to his knees. "Do anything you want with me, just don't hurt the ramen!" His was clutching the ramen close to his chest.

Ino sweat dropped at the sight of Naruto. She felt bad for yelling at him now.

"It's ok Naruto, I'm not mad" Ino said, but clearly she was irritated. She turned around and started to head back towards the shop once again when Naruto called after her.

"Ino wait up!" Naruto yelled as he ran to catch up with her. "Where are you going? Don't you live back there?" he pointed back behind them in the opposite direction.

"Yes, but I'm heading over to the shop" She pointed at her parents' shop that was about half a block away from them now.

"Can I come?!?"

"If you want."

"Yes!"

Ino smiled in return. They had reach the front door and Ino took out her key to unlock the door. As they went in, Ino dropped her bags by the door and turned on the lights.

"Okay Naruto, if you want to help then start-"

"Hey Ino what's that?" Naruto asked as he ran over to a very beautiful flower type plant. "It's so pretty" Naruto whisper as he reached over to touch the plant, completely hypnotized by it.

"Naruto, wait, don't touch that!" Too late. Only Naruto would be dumb enough to stick out his hand over a Drosera. All though the carnivorous plant eats insects, it would still try to attack humans that came near it. It shot out its tentacles and grabbed on to Naruto's hand.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! INO, WHAT IS THIS THING?" Naruto yelled trying to shake the plant off him.

"Naruto, stop moving you're just making it worse." Ino said coming over to him. After a few minutes, they were able to get the plant to let go of him.

"Now Naruto, what have we learned?" Ino asked while bandaging his hand.

"That plants really do eat people."

Ino sweat dropped and laughed at the statement. _Oh boy.__ This__ is going to be a very long morning._

To Ino's surprise, the morning didn't drag on like she lot it would. In fact, it was a lot more fun with Naruto around. Her parents showed up around 9 to take over the front desk and the customers that came in. So, Ino and Naruto went to the back greenhouses to water the spare plants there. Out there, Ino showed Naruto the importance of how to take care of each type of plant. She also told him the significance of each plant and the meanings of each one. She lost track of time until Naruto asked,

"Hey Ino, what time do you have to leave for your mission?"

"Well we don't have to leave till noon, but I told Shikamaru I would meet him at 11:45. But I was going to get him back for yesterday and get there at 11:30. Why?"

"Uh-oh"

"Uh-oh what."

"At least your going to be there by noon." Naruto said as he pointed at the clock behind Ino.

"Oh shit! Its already 11:50! I can't believe this is happening!" Ino yelled as she got up.

"Ino relax, your not going to be late. Your just not going to be early."

Ino just glared at him. If looks could kill, Naruto wouldn't still be breathing.

"Look at it this way, you'll be on time for once."

"Not if you keep talking to me" Ino replied and ran for the door. She stopped when she got there and turned back towards Naruto. "Thanks for the help Naruto! See you soon!"

"Anytime Ino, have fun on your mission"

And with that, Ino was out the door and into the shop. She yelled a quick sorry and good-bye to her parents and the customers, grabbed her bags and ran out the door. Luckily it was a beautiful day to be traveling, just not through the streets of Konoha. Today there was a big flee market, so the streets were crowded with people, but that didn't stop Ino. She jumped up on the highest ruff, and started off in the direction of the main gates. As she was running, she kept thinking of what Shikamaru was going say when she got there.

_If he knows what's good for him, he __won't__ say a word about me being late…again. _

_**Well you know it is your own fault.**_

_WHAT? What the hell are you doing here?__ I thought you deserted me?_

_**You wish. No,**__** I'm here to remind you that you're going to be late for your date with **__**Shika**__**-kun if you don't hurry up.**_

_Date__ I don't have a date with him! We're going on a mission._

_**Ahh**__**, so you like the name **__**Shika**__**-kun don't you?**_

_WHAT? Where did you get that idea? _

_**Because you didn't yell at me for saying it.**_

_Oh shut up._

By now she had reached the street that would take her to the gates. She jumped down into the street because there weren't a lot of people here and decided to slow down to a jog. As she came out of the street, into the opening that was in front of the gates, she slowed her pace down to a walk. She saw Shikamaru who waved over at her. She waved back and walked towards him.

_Well at least he isn't mad._

**TBC**


	5. Coconuts!

**Okay here's that chapter I promised****; a**** little late, but here never**** the**** less. Enjoy!!!!**

**XkeyokoX**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ****Naruto**

**Recap**

By now she had reached the street that would take her to the gates. She jumped down into the street because there weren't a lot of people here and decided to slow down to a jog. As she came out of the street, into the opening that was in front of the gates, she slowed her pace down to a walk. She saw Shikamaru who waved over at her. She waved back and walked towards him.

_Well at least he isn't mad._

**End Recap**

"Well it's about time you showed up." Shikamaru said as Ino walked up to him.

"Sorry, I got a little tied up."

"Whatever. Let's just get going." Shikamaru said and turned around.

_So he is mad…_

They headed out of the gates with Ino just behind Shikamaru. They went for about 10ft when he said over his shoulder, "It's going to take us three days and two nights to get there; which means, we'll be there around noon on the third day. We're supposed to go straight to Garra once we get there. We'll take a lunch break and stop at dusk to sleep for today and tomorrow. Does that sound good?"

"Yup."

"Okay, let's go." And with that, Ino and Shikamaru sprinted off into the woods. As the sun started to disappear for night to come, they stopped by a river with a grassy bank to set up camp. Shikamaru went fishing for their supper as Ino went to gather wood for a fire. Shikamaru was successful in catching two fish which he cooked after Ino got the fire started. After they ate, they rolled out their sleeping bags and doused out the fire. Ino was gazing up at the stars when she whispered, "Aren't they beautiful?"

"What?"

"The stars, Shikamaru", Ino replied a little louder with some annoyance in her voice. "Aren't the stars beautiful?"

"I guess?"

_sigh_ "Never mind."

"Troublesome", Shikamaru mumbled under his breath.

--The Next Day—

As soon as the first rays of light hit across the land, both Ino and Shikamaru were up and ready to continue their journey. They found a small stream that they stopped at for lunch. There was a bunch of berry bushes and mushrooms in the area for them to gather and eat. After about twenty minutes of rest, they got up and refilled their water jugs. Close to three o'clock, they were at the edge of the desert. A few miles off, there is an oasis that they stopped at for the night. There, they eat the left over berries and mushrooms that they had gathered earlier. There were a few palm trees by the oasis where they could get some coconuts. Ino fell asleep under one of the palm trees as Shikamaru laid down next to the edge of the water. About half way through the night, Ino got an unexpected hit to the head.

"OW! WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS THAT!?!?!" Ino screamed as she grabbed her head where a coconut had hit her and sat straight up.

"What?!? What happened?!?" Shikamaru shouted as he ran towards Ino. After his eyes adjusted to the dark, he realized what had happened. "You have got to be kidding me." He groaned as he shook his head and headed back to where he was sleeping.

"What do you mean 'You got to be kidding me? That really hurt!" Ino complained as she rubbed her head.

Shikamaru just gave her a look a pity and turned back toward his stuff. He went over to his bag and took out a small wash cloth. He went to the edge of the water, dipped the cloth in, take it out and rung out the excess water. He walked back toward Ino and sat down by her. He removed her hand from her head and placed the cloth where her hand was. She winced from the pain but start to relax after a few seconds as he held the cloth there.

"Here, lay down." He said and pushed her gently back to the ground. Does that feel better?"

"Yeah, much better thanks." She said softly. After a moment or so she said, "I can take it from here," as she tried to move his hand away.

"Oh no you don't," he said firmly as he placed her hand back to her side. "I'm staying right here until you fall asleep."

She opened her eyes a bit and smiled weakly, "Thanks Shikamaru."

"No problem," he murmured softly.

--The next morning—

Ino woke up to a bright shine of light. It took her a moment to remember where she was and why. Seeing that she had overslept, she threw open her sleeping bag and sat up. As she was about to get up, something fell in her lap. In was a wet wash cloth. That's when she remembered she was hit in the head yesterday by a falling coconut; which also explained why she was out in the bright sun. It seemed that Shikamaru had moved her out from under the tree and over to the side of the oasis.

_Shikamaru…Wait. Where is Shikamaru?_

Ino glanced all around her but still couldn't find him.

_Where did he go? He wouldn't leave me here…right?__Ohh__ no, what if he did leave me here! Am I supposed to just stay here? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH what do I do!??!?!?!_

_**Can you keep it down, I'm trying to sleep!**_

_Oh, yeah, sorry….Hey! It's you!!!_

_**So...**_

_So! You can tell me what to do!_

_**No I can't.**_

_What! Why not?_

_**What would be the fun in that?**_

_Are you saying you like to see me suffer? _

_**Maybe, maybe not.**_

_WHAT! I CAN'T BELI-_

"Ino?"

"Huh?" Ino turned around and looked up into a confused and skeptical face that belonged to Shikamaru. It appears that while Ino was having that little chat with herself, all of her emotions were being displayed out on her face. Now it turned beat red.

'Hey, Shikamaru. What's up?" She said anxiously.

"I don't you tell me Ino."He replied with uncertainly.

"Umm…Well would you look at that." She said, turning away from him and pointed of into the distance. 'I think I can see the village from here."

"Right? Well, I guess if you're ready to go, then let's get a move on. We've already lost too much time."

"Okay!" Ino jumped up and started putting away her stuff. After a few minutes she was ready to go. Let checked to see if the had enough water and set out to the village.

**TBC**


End file.
